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College Student Creates Napkin That Detects Drugs In Drinks

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Motivated by her own experiences, a college student has created a napkin that is designed to detect drugs that may have been slipped into a person’s drink.

George Washington University junior Danya Sherman developed the KnoNap, a regular napkin that features a color-changing fabric meant to alert and prevent drug-facilitated crimes.

“You just take a drop of your drink, and if there’s drug presence indicated, there’ll be a clear color change next to where you put your drink,” Sherman said, via WTOP.

Sherman says she was motivated to prevent others from being drugged at parties after she was assaulted while studying overseas.

“In the summer of 2016, while studying abroad in Spain, my friend drugged and assaulted me. It was the first time I actually became aware of the issue and it became very personal,” Sherman revealed.

Following her assault, the junior took a college course on women’s entrepreneurial leadership, which required Sherman to start her own business. KnoNap, which Sherman calls “the napkin that knows,” was awarded funding from George Washington University and other groups focused on supporting up-and-coming social projects.

The KnoNap can reportedly detect 26 of the 40 most commonly used date rape drugs. Sherman’s company is now working with manufacturers to put the smart napkin on the market by the end of 2018.

“What I hope my company is able to push for is social change, greater awareness of the issue, but, at the end of the day, empower individuals to be safer so that no one else has to say, ‘Me Too.'”